A Martinez woman was killed and her son seriously injured Monday morning in a violent collision on Columbia Road when a westbound 2004 Chevy Malibu swerved and struck the right rear corner of a utility trailer stopped to make a left turn. The crash peeled the left side of the car open and ripped it in half.

Woman dies after Monday crash

A Martinez woman died Monday morning from massive injuries received in a violent crash on Columbia Road that sent her son to the hospital.

Trum was driving a 2004 Chevy Malibu west on Columbia Road shortly after 7 a.m. Monday with her 14-year-old son, Jonathan Ryan Trum, riding in the back seat en route to Columbia Middle School. She apparently didn’t see a Pete Alewine Pool and Spa truck pulling a utility trailer in front of her that had stopped to turn left into the Sample & Son inert landfill, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Sgt. A.J. Lyons.

Trum appeared to have never applied the brakes, Sheriff Clay Whittle said. She swerved to the right at the last second and caught the front left corner of her car on the rear right corner of the trailer.

The collision peeled the left side of the car off and tore the vehicle in two.

Trum was pronounced dead after being transported from the scene. Her son, a student at Columbia Middle, was airlifted to Georgia Health Sciences University Hospital and was listed in fair condition, a hospital spokesperson said.

The driver of the truck – Gaudencio Sanchez, 34, of Grovetown – was not injured.

Lyons said all the safety equipment on the trailer, including lights, was working properly.

11-year-old arrested in home invasion

Four teens and an 11-year-old were arrested Sunday and accused of a Grovetown home invasion.

Nicholas Dwight Blodgett, 17, of Magnolia Parkway in Grovetown, and Mario Lavache Jones Jr., 17, of Milledgeville Road in Augusta, are being held in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond on charges of burglary, attempted armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Jermaine Marcell Jones Jr., 14, of Murphy Road in Augusta, Antonio Marquette Davis, 15, of Floyd Street, in Augusta, and Zion Howard, 11, of Augusta, are being held in the Regional Youth Detention Center.

The three juveniles were denied bond in a Monday hearing before Juvenile Court Judge Doug Flanagan, who noted their criminal histories and called them a danger to themselves and to the community.

A woman called police just before 2 p.m. Sunday claiming a group of young men threatened her at gunpoint. She said she was in the kitchen of her boyfriend’s Lake Royal Drive home, where she saw someone approach the front door. When they rang the bell repeatedly, the women said she ran to the door to keep them from waking her boyfriend.

When she answered the door, a teenager asked if “Bill” was home. When she replied no one named Bill was there, another teen to her left pointed a silver pistol at her face. He backed the woman up into the house and made her lie face-down on the floor. She saw feet of four assailants.

Another of the assailants demanded to know who else was home. The woman said, “He is upstairs. Quiet or you’ll wake him up.” The homeowner opened his upstairs bedroom door, and the boys fled when they saw and heard him loading a gun.

As the boys ran, the woman said she saw that another of her attackers had a gun.

A Columbia County sheriff’s deputy saw three young men run across Lake Royal Drive headed toward South Old Belair Road. An older Ford F-150 truck either stopped or moved slowly toward the deputy near the intersection.

As a fourth young man ran across the road to join the other three, the deputy drew his gun and ordered him on the ground. The young man just ran harder and jumped a fence into the Magnolia neighborhood along with his partners.

Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said police set up a perimeter. Mario Jones, Jermaine Jones, Davis and Howard were arrested shortly thereafter. While interviewing the young men, police discovered Blodgett also was involved. He was arrested early Monday.

The following accounts were taken from reports from The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:

Burglars take guns from home in Appling

An Appling woman called police Friday evening after discovering her home ransacked and guns stolen.

The 47-year-old returned to her home on White Oak Campground Road at about 9 p.m. after staying with an ill friend in Thomson overnight. She said she found the lights on and the front door open. The living room and two bedrooms had been ransacked, with clothing, papers and other personal property scattered around the rooms.

Two pistols and a rifle, all belonging to friends, were stolen. Two older revolvers in a dresser drawer and a shotgun in her closet were not disturbed.

Police found pry marks on the front door. Three televisions and other electronics were not taken.

Garage doors damaged

Someone damaged garage doors at four homes on one Evans street overnight Thursday.

Four homes on Avrett Circle were damaged when someone hit or threw a large object at the garage doors.

One resident said he heard a loud bang. He discovered the damage the next morning when the door wouldn’t work.